India holds back plans to eject foreign pilots

The civil aviation ministry plans to extend its December 2013 deadline for phasing out foreign pilots, with airlines unable to train a sufficient number of local pilots for the commander’s post.

The move will benefit Jet Airways (India) Ltd, which plans to hire about 70 foreign pilots for its Boeing 777s.

According to civil aviation ministry records, there were 340 foreign pilots employed by airlines and charter companies in India as of December 2012. It said the number of foreign pilots in India had reduced from 526 in 2011 to 340.

Among the airlines, Jet has the highest number of expat pilots (93), followed by SpiceJet (63) and IndiGo (56).